TmAc or Iverson in their primes???

[Chieflion]

T-Mac. Lets face it. If T-Mac had Dikembe Mutombo instead of Pat Garrity, he would make the finals too.

[mavsfan1000]

[Fernando TD21]

Iverson, no doubt. McGrady's problem isn't just that he was always a me-first kind of player, it was that he had zero work ethic. All of those injuries could have been avoided if he had been focused in taking care of his body like Kobe does. And he would always skate through practice without trying to make the team better



Granted 04-05 T-Mac was probably the best of his career, still a disappointment that Les knew this before he traded 4 him

edit: mavsfan1000 beat me to it.

In their primes, I'd pick T-mac.

[LkrFan]

T-Mac talent wise, but AI had more heart.

[Greg Oden]

lol being a poon and not calling in last night

lol jordan bieber

next time I'll stay at the house and listen to a show 10 other people were listening to and call in.


Good to hear from you, man!

[mystargtr34]

T-Mac... he had one of the most pathetic rosters in history so the not getting out of the first round argument is a little weak. Would Kobe have ever gotten out of the first round if he played with the 05-07 Lakers roster for 5 years? Pretty unlikely.. and even then Lamar Odom was >>> the second best player on those prime-McGrady Magic teams.

Pretty close though.

[baseline bum]

T-Mac... he had one of the most pathetic rosters in history so the not getting out of the first round argument is a little weak. Would Kobe have ever gotten out of the first round if he played with the 05-07 Lakers roster for 5 years? Pretty unlikely.. and even then Lamar Odom was >>> the second best player on those prime-McGrady Magic teams.

Pretty close though.

Then he shouldn't have left Toronto if he couldn't carry a team. He had a golden situation with what would have been a very good Raptors team:

G Doug Christie
G Vince Carter
F Tracy McGrady
F Charles Oakley
C Antonio Davis
6 Alvin Williams

He could have played the exact Pippen role: point forward and defensive stopper. Unfortunately, McGrady could give a about playing on a team and was everything Iverson was ever accused of being, in addition to being someone who just coasted on talent.

[TE]

Man...........this thread makes me feel old in some way.

[Chieflion]

Then he shouldn't have left Toronto if he couldn't carry a team. He had a golden situation with what would have been a very good Raptors team:

G Doug Christie
G Vince Carter
F Tracy McGrady
F Charles Oakley
C Antonio Davis
6 Alvin Williams

He could have played the exact Pippen role: point forward and defensive stopper. Unfortunately, McGrady could give a about playing on a team and was everything Iverson was ever accused of being, in addition to being someone who just coasted on talent.

That's nonsense. McGrady joined the Magic to team up with Grant Hill or possibly Tim Duncan. Unfortunately, Grant Hill's career in Orlando was riddled with injuries, which no one would have predicted. Vince Carter also skipped town after a few years anyway and most of those players were old as . Alvin Williams wasn't even in the NBA for a long time.

McGrady carried his so called team to the playoffs in his first year with the Orlando Magic. Grant Hill played a total of 4 games in that season. Team record: 43-39

The next season, Grant Hill only played a total of 14 games. The other best player, Mike Miller, only played 63 games. Team record: 44-38

In the 2002-2003 season, Grant Hill again only played 29 games. McGrady carried the Magic by scoring 32.1 points per game and would have won in the 1st round (this was also the first year where they ins uted the 7 game 1st round playoffs) if the 1st round was still only 5 games and advanced against the number 1 seed. Team record: 42-40

In the 2003-2004 season, the Orlando Magic sucked and T-Mac played only 67 games. They finally got some legit help inside with Juwan Howard, who was also quite inefficient as a center in terms of scoring and he couldn't grab a damn rebound. It was too late after all these years with bad luck, signing old and washed up players like Patrick Ewing. Tracy McGrady was then off the team before next season as the Orlando Magic move towards a brighter future with rookie Dwight Howard.

To say that prime Tracy McGrady couldn't carry a team is ridiculous. He certainly did it. One man cannot win even a playoff series. Jordan couldn't do it in his early years, Kobe Bryant didn't do it.

Let us take a look at what Vince Carter did with the Raptors in the same span of time.

After finishing 45-37 with both McGrady and Carter on the same team, McGrady chose to sign with a team that gave the chance to become a superstar. Carter, on the other hand, was practically at the peak of his career. They finished 47-35 the season T-Mac left and lost in 7 games to the MVP Allen Iverson and the 76ers. Vince Carter's points per game doubled the next highest scorer Antonio Davis.

In the 2001-2002 season, Vince Carter played only 60 games and they had a record of 42-40.

In the 2002-2003 season, Vince Carter played only 43 games and the team sucked and finished 24-58.

In the 2003-2004 season, Vince carter was finally somewhat healthy and the team ended up with a record of 33-49, again failing to make the playoffs.

After that season, like McGrady, Carter was traded to the New Jersey Nets and was hated by Raptor fans after he supposedly quit on the team.

In the end, the only conclusion would be that bad luck fell upon McGrady's choice to join the Magic. If Grant Hill would have been healthy, both McGrady and Hill in their primes would be at least 25 per game scorers and the most unstoppable wing duo since Jordan and Pippen.

Vince Carter didn't carry that squad for long enough. Things might have been different with T-Mac by his side but as you can see, the Raptors were with the exception of one season.

The choice between Grant Hill and the chance to be number 1 option with a chance to win (Grant Hill's career being plagued with injuries not withstanding) or playing with Vince Carter and bury his talent and end up with most likely a lesser record if injuries to either Hill or Carter did not happen, it was an easy decision to make for Tracy McGrady. His stint at Orlando happened to be jobbed by injuries to Grant Hill.